Shortfall in National Insurance Contributions

strawberrylane

My wife and I have each sent a cheque to the National Insurance Contributions Office to pay for class 3 contributions. They received the cheques on 15th January 2009 and sent us each a receipt straight away. But, I did an online state retirement forecast today for each of us and none of the tax years for which we have paid these class 3 contributions has yet been credited. There must be quite a backlog in processing these, is any MSE-er who works there able to shed any light for us on how long we might have to wait for these payments to be credited to our NI accounts? TIA.

seven-day-weekend

I sent my cheque on the first of January and it was not processed until the 27th.

Hope this helps!

jennyjerome1

I was told it would take six weeks after the cheque was cashed for the voluntary contributions to show up on my pension record.

GWEPM

Hi,
I am one year short in my NIC contributions. I have paid contributions without a break since 1976 but understand that under the old rules I could only buy missing years within the last 6.
But the changed legislation now allows me to buy any missing year.
However I understand that this alteration only comes into force after 1 April, and at the same time the class 3 NIC is to go up by 50%.

Is that right, or can I buy the missing year at the current amount?

Damsonjam_2

EdInvestor wrote: »

How many years have you clocked up already?

Find out and get a forecast here: www.thepensionservice.gov.uk

There are two state pensions so you may be set for more than you think.

Well, you are exactly right.. it took a couple of days to get an activation code but I got a forecast online on Weds.. the good news is that it says that I already have 29 out of the required 30 years! Looks like those holiday jobs might have paid off! :j

Thanks for your help.:beer:

GWEPM

GWEPM wrote: »

Hi,
I understand that this alteration only comes into force after 1 April, and at the same time the class 3 NIC is to go up by 50%.

Is that right, or can I buy the missing year at the current amount?

Just to "bump" this question, Does anyone know if the legislation currently allows purchase of missing years NIC contributions? There have been newspaper articles about buying missing years before the 50% price hike in April, but I suspect this only applies to people who have not worked during the last 6 years. I have tried ringing HMRC but they seemed vague and ill-informed and unable to answer my question.

AND can anyone advise on what proportion of a year's contributions is needed to qualify for that year? I presume that one can miss some weeks out of the 52 and it still class as a full year.

EdInvestor

GWEPM wrote: »

Just to "bump" this question, Does anyone know if the legislation currently allows purchase of missing years NIC contributions?

Yes, you can currently buy up to the last 10 missing years at the lower price.. The additional 6 will be avialble from April if qualified.

I suspect this only applies to people who have not worked during the last 6 years.

10,not 6 (it is usually 6 but there was an error, so temporarily, it's 10, reducing soon to 9.Speak to the people here: www.thepensionservice.gov.uk for asnwers on all your questions.

seven-day-weekend

If you are buying back years you have to buy the full year.

This link may help you with your enquiry:

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/resourcecentre/factsheets/home.asp

GWEPM

EdInvestor wrote: »

Yes, you can currently buy up to the last 10 missing years at the lower price.. The additional 6 will be avialble from April if qualified.

10,not 6 (it is usually 6 but there was an error, so temporarily, it's 10, reducing soon to 9.Speak to the people here: www.thepensionservice.gov.uk for asnwers on all your questions.

Thanks, but that doesn't sound hopeful then. I have worked continuously throughout the last 10 years (and more). I had thought that the changes were to allow one to purchase any previously missed year - in my case 1976!

GWEPM

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

If you are buying back years you have to buy the full year.

No that question was in relation to the current year. Final year before retirement with a birthday late in the year means I will contribute 47 out of 52 weeks this year. The automated pension forecast doesn't appear to include this in its calculation so I guess it falls just short of their rules for qualifying.

Seems a bit harsh, especially as I am one year short with 38 years, but in just over a year I would qualify fully with 8 years less!! How fair is that?!!